Of Witches and Ghosts
by jeanne.summers
Summary: AU.when an accident leaves Californian teenager Samantha Manson defensive and withdrawn her family thinks a change in scenery might help her out, but will Amity park be the best place for her or will the town hero Phantom help Sam more DISCONTINUED/ADOPTABLE SORRY
1. changes of the bad kind

Please note this is an AU, if you don't like AU s the maybe you shouldn't read it, forgive me if the characters seem a little ooc but come on its hard to stay in character in an (here's those letters again) AU. If you think I own Danny phantom or the Gotham girls then you've probably been living under a rock.

* * *

Of Witches and Ghosts.

Chapter one: Changes of the Bad Kind.

High above the darkened Californian skyline atop a large building, a battle of epic proportions was under way. Two demons of monumental power were locked in an age-old battle for ownership of the Earth. Surrounding the demons were five young girls. One of them, dressed in a light blue outfit, was already bruised and bleeding. The girls stood evenly spaced around the demons, at the points of a star hastily marked on the ground. Light blue, yellow gold, cherry red, dark obsidian and deep green and purple, the girls, battered by the demonic winds coming from the battle, held tightly to large chunks of quartz-like materials and began to chant;

"Demons dark from shadow dwell,

Chaotic forces we wish to quell,

To rid the Earth of your sick unwell,

We cast you Daemons Back to Hell."

They intoned the first verse together then they spoke one by one.

"For all the creatures of the night,

And the birds who trade in flight,

Your darkness we now quell,

We cast you daemons back to hell."

The first crystal glowed with a golden light.

"For the creatures of the fur and creatures of the fin

We doom you daemons now within your mortal skin,

Your evil we now quell,

We cast you daemons back to hell."

The second crystal began to glow with a dark black and silver light.

"For all the magic of the light,

We here refuse to give up the fight,

Your horror we now quell,

We cast you daemons back to hell."

The third crystal lit with a sky blue light.

"For the survival of our kind,

Your powers we now bind,

Your madness we now quell,

We cast you daemons back to hell."

The fourth crystal shone with a red glow.

"For the life of the land,

From this world you now are banned,

Your perversions we now quell,

We cast you daemons back to hell."

The fifth and final crystal shone with a dark green and purple light and the girls began to chant in sync once more, their voices rising with each line trying to be heard against the ever-increasing winds.

"Daemons dark from shadows dwell,

Chaotic forces we wish to quell,

To rid the Earth of your sick unwell,

WE CAST YOU DAEMONS BACK TO HELL!"

The light from the five crystals raced out to join each other in a series of lines - a five pointed star. The lines copied the pentagram beneath them then light shot forth once more, arcing up into the sky and meeting somewhere above the daemons, trapping them in a cage of light. The light grew brighter and brighter, closing in on the daemons until the light beams had become a blinding pinnacle. The girls fell to their knees one by one as their energy drained into the crystal spell cage. The pinnacle's brightness lit up the surrounding area, turning night into day before it exploded outward sending waves of concussive force across the sky, totally obliterating the daemons. The sky faded once more to black and the girls lost consciousness.

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

Three weeks later…

"I agree that she shouldn't stay here, but Mum you have trouble looking after yourself as it is and I hear there's a lot of hooligans around; I really don't think it would be best if Samantha stayed with you."

"Oh please, Sam and I can take care of ourselves. Besides I have some nice young people who love to help me out and they'd be good for Sam; they're the same age and they go to the local high school so they could help her ease in."

"Maybe it would be best if she went with Mum. I mean, it's a small town and there probably won't be any of these hard core gang types like those animals that did this to the girls."

Sam's mind could hear - she knew she was definitely hearing, but the words, the words made no sense to her. Zoey, Zoey would know what they were talking about, Zoey always knew.

"Z- Zo- Zoey?" That wasn't right, why did it hurt to speak?

"Sammy-kins, oh baby, are you finally awake? Please speak to me, speak to mommy."

Mommy? What was she talking about where was Zoey? Why didn't she answer?

"Zoey?" Sam tried again, her speech was less staggered this time but it still hurt to talk.

"No Sam, it's Mum and Dad… and your grandma."

Why wouldn't these people stop talking, where was Zoey?

"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Manson?" a new voice from a little further away, she knew that voice.

"Barbra?" Sam called for her friend. She heard wheels on vinyl. That was not right, that was not Barbra's walk.

"Sam?" Barbra's voice spoke close to her ear. "Sam, will you please open your eyes and look at me, I have to tell you something, it's important, it's about Zoey."

Open her eyes? Of course, they were shut, that's why there was darkness everywhere. Sam's eyes slid open slowly and she turned her head to the side. Barbra's blue eyes were blood shot, her auburn hair tussled; she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks and there was something else.

"Barb?" Sam tried to sit up slowly but she found she lacked the strength.

"I'm sorry Sam," Barbra's eyes glistened with fresh tears, "Zoey didn't make it."

"The others?" Sam hardly dared to ask, she knew the cost might be high but this…

"Selene has total amnesia, Haley it a basket of nerves, she was out for three days, and…" Barbra trailed off.

"Barb? Barbra why are you in a wheelchair?" Sam had managed to roll onto her side and now she could see what it was that was wrong. "Barb, how long have I been out?"

"Three weeks."

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

Two days after Sam had woken up in Hospital, she had been allowed to leave. She and Barbra had walked, or in Barbra's case rolled, to the local cemetery; to the grave of their friend, their sister at heart, Zoey. She had been the first one in their group of five to find her artifact; she had been the keeper of the book, the first to try a spell from it. They had all cast spells from the book but Zoey had been the first, the most daring of all the girls when it came to magic. She had been reasonable too, she had been their driving force leading them into the many battles they been part of, but now there was no one to bear the Compass artifact. Zoey had died, Selene, left with amnesia, had moved away, Haley, now scared of the smallest noise, would move away tomorrow and the day after Sam herself would be gone. Barbra would be alone in the city. The only comfort Sam had was that the rift that had allowed demons access to the city had closed when they had banished the Daemon lords Balthazar and Beelzebub.

"Sam, Zoey told me before she died; if we were to separate that she wanted you to care for her artifact. Just until its next owner needs it. She thought it might do you the most good, she also said, and I agree, that you should be the new keeper of _the book_. You're going to need it the most - I did some research and apparently there is a lot of paranormal activity in Amity Park, ghosts and the like mostly, so you shouldn't have to worry too much, your Grandma did say they weren't that bad."

"Barb, I don't think I should cast any more. Don't talk just listen, please. The night Zoey summoned Beelzebub to fight Balthazar, I… I said some things to her. I think I'm the one who made Zoey cast the summons. Her death is my fault because I can't watch my own stupid mouth and if I can get some one killed just by talking, Barb, what if I kill someone with a cast because I was careless in my wording? I don't think I should be allowed anywhere near _the book_." A single tear slid down Sam's cheek.

Barbra took her friend by the hand, for a while they just stayed by Zoey's grave, then finally Barbra spoke once more, her blue eyes covered in a white mist.

"Your going to need the book Poison Ivy, You'll need it if you want to save him, your true one, he walks in two worlds and yet he belongs to neither. Give him a world where he can belong - for there too can you belong. You have many battles ahead little Ivy, many things you can not face alone, trust the old willow, she can help, she can teach you things you have not drowned in the growth long enough to learn."

Sam's purple eye momentarily glazed with a forest green as she looked at her chair-bound friend.

"Barbra, if you can't be Batgirl anymore, who are you?"

The white vanished from Barbra's eyes and their gazes locked.

"I am Oracle now."

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

From the window of her Grandma's van Sam could see only a small portion of Amity Park, but her Grams had said it was bigger then it looked and Sam wasn't inclined to disagree. The trip from the Amity Park Airport was a short one, and the two women soon reached their destination - Grammy Manson's house. Out the front on the porch steps was a boy who looked to be Sam's age. His hair was pitch black and it flopped in his eyes, not like her own which, although it was black it had a purple tint to it, and on the odd occasion her powers were kicked into over drive, it had been known to support deep green power streaks.

"Oh how lovely, Danny's waiting for me to come home." Grammy Manson said to Sam as they got out of the car. Hearing the van doors open, Danny's head shot up and he smiled.

"Hey Grams," he said as he got up and jogged over to her. "I was getting worried you were never coming back. Did you have a nice trip?" Danny was taller than Grammy Manson by quite a bit, and when he hugged her, he lifted her almost a foot off the ground.

"It was very nice thank you Danny, my Granddaughter is awake now - in fact she's around the other side of the car." Grammy Manson opened the back of the Van and Danny automatically grabbed her bags for her. He put one down beside his feet and reached back in for another bag, a black duffle bag with an odd symbol in purple that he couldn't quite see, when a hand stopped him. He looked up and for a moment he thought he was drowning in a purple eternity. And then he was jolted back to reality.

"That, is my bag, you do not touch it. Ever." Sam grabbed her black duffle bag as well as another identical bag that had been hidden behind it. Sam started over to the front door and Danny quickly grabbed the bag he had placed beside his feet and took after her. After shutting the back of the van, Grammy Manson followed at a slower pace, a smile lining her lips.

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Props for any one who knows where the Batgirl-Oracle thing is from. 

Feel free to flame it ok, I have a fire extinguisher and I know how to use it….. Kinda have to in my line of hobbies….

Ps. Daemons in this context refers to upper level demons, demons refers to, well demons, as a race in general.


	2. memory lane, a stroll for one

Hello, thanks to the few people who reviewed, you guys/gals, made my week. Explanations ahoy. And the run on sentences…. Yeah I do that…. A lot…… but compared to some of the people I know, my punctuation is amazing, and considering how much it sucks….. Well you people have imaginations…. I hope.

X.X is moving to or from a flash back

OxO is shifting timezones in the flashback

DSDS is shifting scenes in the present

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Of Witches And Ghosts

Chapter Two: Memory Lane, A Stroll for One

Sam sat alone in her new room looking through her photo album. Pictures of the five girls littered the pages; some were even accompanied by scrap booking odds and ends that the girls had found on one of their trips to Chinatown. Some of the pages even held loose sheets of paper with their spur of the moment spells, all of which had been copied into _the book_ in much neater writing. One photo in particular caught Sam's eye, it was the five of them sitting on the wall where Sam had first met Zoey and Barbra.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

It was autumn and the day had been turning to night. Sam had been sitting alone on the wall for almost an hour trying to figure out what had happened; what she had done, or at least what she was pretty sure she had done. The wind picked up some of the loose leaves and was tossing them around on the ground when a voice pierced through Sam's thoughts.

"Hey, Poison Ivy." It called. It was followed by another voice, muffled and low.

"Z, she probably doesn't know who you're talking to."

"Fine," It was the first voice again. "Hey missy up on the wall."

Sam turned her head to look at the two girls; the first had jet-black hair that hung loose around her shoulders, wore blue jeans and a denim jacket over a light blue top. The second girl had her light red hair up in a ponytail and wore black jeans and a matching skivvy with a strange, yellow and black symbol, which looked like a bat silhouette across the front. They walked up to the wall and the first one spoke again.

"So, Poison Ivy girl, that was some pretty cool manip you did back there."

Sam blinked; what was this girl talking about?

"What are you talking about, and why do you keep calling me Poison Ivy?"

Sam waited for her to reply. Looking the girls over, she noticed the black haired girl wore a strange looking compass attached to her jeans belt loop.

"Because, Poison Ivy, unless I'm mistaken the vines you used to stop those bulldozers were poison ivy, am I wrong?" The girl blinked innocently at Sam.

"It was Athosian poison ivy, and what makes you think I had anything to do with it?" Sam tilted her head to the side and arched an eyebrow at the girl.

"Name's Zoey, friends call me Zantana, and what you did falls under the category of really cool paranormal stuff, which makes it my specialty."

"And I'm Barbra, just in case you were wondering."

"But I call her Batgirl." Zoey smiled and Barbra rolled her eyes at her friend.

"Batgirl?" Sam asked.

"There was an incident," Barbra admitted. "With bats, hence 'Batgirl.'"

"So Ivy, what's the difference, between that Athosy Ivy and normal poison ivy?" Zoey asked out of the blue.

"Athosian. It's the only type of ivy with flowers, they're small and purple. Now you tell me, what makes you think that what I did back there was 'really cool paranormal stuff' and where did you get the name 'Zantana' from any way?" Sam looked between the two girls.

"Because Ivy, we're witches and we have powers too - just not exactly like yours - and we'd like to help, ok, we have to help. As for the name, it belonged to one of my ancestors; she worked as a magician's assistant and, well considering the circumstances I was under when I first used my powers, I thought it was appropriate." Zoey explained with a casual wave of her hand.

"When you say you wanna help," Sam asked cautiously. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Well, we're new to this whole magic thing too," Barbra said cutting Zoey off before she could speak. "And we thought it might be better if we don't learn alone, if we all learn together it might be easier, and Z's artifact led us to you."

"Her artifact? What is an artifact?" Sam asked as she slid off the short wall.

"See the compass I'm wearing? It is an artifact; an object of great power - this one helps me find direction, and leads me where I need to go if I can't find my way." Zoey detached the compass from her jeans and held it so Sam could see it better.

"So, when you say learn, you mean…" Sam trailed away letting her question hang.

"We mean research, and trial and error, with a team to help when one of us gets it wrong." Barbra said.

"So what do you think Ivy?" Zoey asked, as she held out her hand in offering.

"My name is Sam." Sam took Zoey's hand as she spoke.

"Welcome to the team Ivy."

"It's Sam."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

OxOxOxOxOxOxO

Over the next month, the girls had met Haley, who had been working as a clown at a carnival when her powers had first shown, and when the girls had met her, instantly earning herself the nickname of 'Harlequin.' Selene had first met Sam when she broke into Sam's house - Zoey had later given her the name 'Catwoman' for her cat-burglar habits when the girls met Selene a second time, after her powers revealed themselves. After two months of working together, all of the girls had found and earned an artifact. The girls had some shaky starts, but they'd always managed to fix any mistakes they made, and then, they received _the book_. While the artifacts were independent of the girl's powers and had no affect on them, _the book_ had been different.

The girls had gathered in their usual meeting spot, an old mansion owned but never used by Barbra's parents. She had asked her parents if she could have it and they had had no objections. The girls had sat in a circle for their meditation when a quiet hum had filled the air. A point of light began to glow at the circle's centre, and as quickly as it had started, the humming stopped, the light faded and all that remained was _the book_. Within it they had found pages and pages on different demonic and angelic beings, spells and descriptions of artifacts long since lost and, more importantly, the spell which had bound them together and increased their powers.

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

Sam shut her photo album and placed it carefully in the drawer next to her bed. The past could wait to be remembered; in the here and now her grandmother was calling her for tea.

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I meant what I typed last time, I'm looking for constructive criticism, if you don't understand something tell me or I won't know to explain it to you ok. I sometimes forget you guys/gals don't all know what I know, you want me to be clearer about something all you have to do is ask. 


	3. midnight rendezvous with the dead

Sorry I'm a few hours, ok like half a day, later then normal, not that you actually care, but I've been busy. Deal with it. Thanks for the reviews and favs and alerts and etc. goddess I think I've become one of those authors whose stories inexplicably go down hill. I'm thinking of doing a companion piece for this, same story just third view focus on Danny. Should I shouldn't I? Feed back would be nice. And yes there are some slight time skips between chapters but I didn't think you lot want to hear about Sam eating dinner or packing her clothes away so…

* * *

Of Witches and Ghosts

Chapter Three: Midnight Rendezvous With The Dead.

"Ivy, hey Poison Ivy, come on wake up sweet heart. Oh don't turn sleeping beauty on me Ivy." A voice called to Sam from the darkness, she struggled to answer the familiar voice and slowly, fading into existence was a very familiar sight.

"There you go, see not so hard." Zoey.

"You're dead." It was the first thing to cross Sam's lips, not, 'Hey, how are you?', just 'You're dead.'

"So they keep telling me Ivy. But how 'bout you tell me how you're doing, really? I heard you quit casting."

"I did." Two word sentences were all Sam could manage.

"Aw, Ivy, turning your back on our destiny? Why Ivy, because I died doing what needed to be done?"

Sam couldn't meet Zoey's eyes. It was then, as she looked away, that she realised where they were.

"The wall, Zoey?" Sam looked up at Zoey only to see her disapproving look.

"Ivy, it was my time, you can't turn your back on our destiny, your destiny just because I'm not there anymore."

"You didn't need to die Zoey. The circle of five has been broken, shattered, how can we still have a destiny if we are not together to achieve it?" Sam's eyes stung with tears; she wasn't sure if she was ready to face Zoey yet, if this was the real Zoey.

"Ivy, read the book, what does it say in the prophecy of the circle of five? I'll tell you what it doesn't say, it doesn't say that we all had to be alive to see her come, we just open the way. I've seen Ivy, I have seen the way things need to be and this is it. 'Sides, me being dead ain't so bad, I might even get to become a guardian. I wouldn't be yours of course; I'd be a new witch's guardian, someone who needs my guidance more than you."

"I do need you Zoey. I don't understand, why did you give the book and your artifact to me, why not send the artifact back to its resting place?"

"Because you need it first; you'll figure it out. Oh one last tip - ok two – one: don't blame yourself, it was my doing, you couldn't have changed it, it was my fate. Two: some of your habits you really need to keep. Don't forget your belt satchel or your artifacts. I'll come see you later, when you're really ready to talk 'kay? See ya Ivy."

Zoey slowly faded away, along with the world around her. Sam tried to call out but her voice wouldn't work, her mouth wouldn't open, she had no control over the dreamscape that was slipping away from her.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Sam sat up in bed with a start, her breathing was quick and shallow and her night shirt was plastered to her torso with cold sweat. Her artifact, a silver pocket watch she wore on a silver chain around her neck, felt like a world of weight on her chest. She scrambled out of bed, searching around in the semidarkness, the moonlight coming in through the window just enough for her to see by. After a few moments Sam found what she had been looking for. From the depths of the still unpacked duffle bag she pulled out a belt with a small leather satchel attached to it. Sam sat with her back to her new bed and opened the satchel's lid. Inside she found small glass vials and bottles, all of them filled with different coloured liquid, potions Barbra had apparently packed before they had parted ways. Sam took a few out and held them up to the light. A note fell out of the satchel, set loose by the removal of the bottles.

"Dear Ivy,

Couldn't let you go unprotected, just some basic protection-shield potions along with a few energy sapping ones. There are also one or two anti-ecto potions, the research I did said there are a lot of ghosts there, the anti-ecto should help clean your clothes. The recipe is in the book just in case you need more.

Love you, Batgirl."

Suddenly the room felt too confining. Sam grabbed a pair of deep green jeans, a dark purple sweater and her favourite pair of black joggers. She changed into them quickly before climbing out the window, pausing only to put on the belt and satchel, clip the compass to a belt loop and slip on a black leather trench coat. She shut the window very carefully from the outside and began her descent. Sam thanked all the earth spirits and deities she knew for the ivy ridden latticework that covered the entire wall that she was now using to climb down. The moment Sam's feet hit the ground, they started to move of their own accord. If Sam hadn't been so deep in thought, she might have recognised the feeling, the pull, the natural instinct that had taken her into the path of innocents and on quite a few occasions, right into the path of demonic energy attack. She walked for a good ten minutes before she realised she had gone further than just down the road. Sam's eyes scanned the darkened area and she noticed that bright flashes of light were flickering just beyond the tree line in front of her.

"Damn." Sam shook her head knowing exactly what had happened. She tried not to walk any further towards the light display, but her witch's instinct to deal with the supernatural was too strong, it pulled at her so powerfully that she had no choice but to comply.

"Oh fine, but I'm only going to see what's going on." Sam's pace sped up and she stepped through the trees to see two battling figures, fighting fifteen metres above the ground. The fight was fast-paced, the smaller of the two white haired and dressed mainly in black, seemed to be dealing most of the blows - his opponent was larger and reminded Sam of a body builder, only white skinned with wispy green hair. The fight finished within moments of her arrival when the smaller white haired fighter sucked the other into what appeared, to Sam at least, to be a soup thermos. The remaining fighter fell slowly to the ground. Controlled, Sam realised, just like Barbra when she got her powers of levitation, not as powerful or consistent as that of the fighter's but still…

"He can fly." Sam spoke in a whisper, but the cold night air magnified her voice just enough to alert him to her presence. Sam doubted if he heard her exact words but he stood for a moment like a deer caught in headlights before he floated over to her. A foot off the ground he moved slowly, cautiously, like he expected her to start screaming.

"Hello." His voice echoed slightly - he sounded unsure as if he was still expecting the run and scream routine. Now that he was closer, Sam could see that he looked like a teenager, about eighteen, her age.

"Um, you shouldn't be out by yourself at night, 'specially round here - there's ghost you know."

"By definition, Sir, I'm not alone at the moment. Further, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a ghost?" Sam mentally hit herself, she knew better then to be rude to supernatural beings. Her eyes narrowed, she could have sworn the corner of his mouth had turned up like he was amused, but was trying to hide it.

"Yes, I'm a ghost - would you like to run screaming in the other direction now?"

"No, I'm quite fine to stand here in the dark with a complete stranger who happens to be living impaired." Her friends had told her attitude was way to sassy sometimes, they'd also told her that her sass would probably be the death of her. Right now she believed it. Time seemed to stretch, the ghost looked at her like she was insane and as if he couldn't believe what she had just said, and then he did something that really shocked Sam. He started laughing. He laughed so hard she doubted he knew he was floating higher and higher, in all her years as a witch she'd never seen a ghost laugh.

"Living impaired, oh I like that. You've either got a heck of a lotta guts or you really have no clue how dangerous the ghosts in the town, including me, are." His laugh subsided into quiet chuckles and he lowered himself once more, this time letting his feet make contact with the ground beneath.

"I'll take C, all of the above." Sam knew that she should really shut up soon. She knew she was in trouble the second he smirked. She-was-doomed. She knew and she didn't even need to see the future like Barbra.

"So no one warned you about me, hmm? Well that's just a tad insulting. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Phantom, the most feared and dangerous ghost in Amity park. Might I inquire as to the lady's name?" Phantom performed a mock bow to Sam.

"Inquire away; today's forecast was a fifty percent chance of answers." Sam was walking a very fine line, she had no idea what had come over her but this ghost - for all he was supposed to be the most dangerous ghost in Amity park - he made her feel safe. Somehow, he felt familiar, like an old friend she could say anything around and not get in trouble for it.

"Fifty percent chance hey? I think I can improve those odds." Before Sam could even blink he had ensnared her by the waist and pulled her to him, turning her as she went so he ended up behind her. A small gasp escaped Sam's lips as she felt her feet leave the ground. The wind tugged her hair gently as Phantom carried her higher up into the sky.

"How are those answers looking now?" Phantom's voice was laced with amusement and Sam grabbed onto his wrists digging her short nails into him as hard as she could.

"Put me down. Now." Sam hissed at him through clenched teeth. Phantom laughed quietly.

"What's the matter… you're not scared are you?" Sam tightened her grip on his wrists; she was getting annoyed at this arrogant ghost.

"Hardly, where are we going?" Sam had noticed the ground beneath them had not only been getting further away but it was also changing.

"You're very perceptive, I'm just taking you for a short flight. Feel like answering my question now?"

"My name is Sam, happy now? Will you put me down already?" Sam was beginning to feel light-headed; she hoped it was just from being up so high.

"Sure, we're here now." Sam blinked in surprise. Phantom had flown her back to her Grams house.

"You already knew exactly who I was, didn't you?" Cold pins and needles flowed over her body as Phantom phased them both through her bedroom window.

"It's my town, I like to know the new faces, especially ones as pretty as yours." Phantom placed her gently on her floor and let her go, Sam spun around to face him but he had already phased back outside. He floated just out side her window smirking at her. She walked over to the window and opened it, leaning out slightly.

"Jerk." Sam pulled herself back in and shut the window followed by the curtains.

She could still hear him laughing quietly as he flew away. Sam shook her head as she got ready to go back to bed.

"A ghost with mood swings, just my luck."

* * *

Oh look, another chapter done. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go sleep… or die, whatever comes first. And remember if you want clarification on something say so or I won't know it's unclear. Flames still accepted, I use them to cook toast and crumpets and boil water. btw a tad, for those of you who don't know, is a little bit. 


	4. Comparisions and Déjà vu

Hello, yeah I know I'm late. Be honest how many of you thought something awful had befallen me? Come on you can tell me... oh fine don't care what I do with me life, it's not like I do... I had something very important to say what was it? Oh yeah, thank you very much to every one who reviews and alerts and favs and all that jazz and an extra thanks to my good friend Alledora Banks, who is my beta reader and also my editor.

* * *

Of Witches And Ghosts

Chapter Four: Comparisons and Déjà vu

Pancakes? Why could Sam smell pancakes? There had been no fight recently and Haley only ever made pancakes after a big fight. 'Pancakes are a gorge food, we work until we drop, then we gorge on pancakes.' That had been her philosophy since they'd met so why? Sam slowly opened her eyes and an unfamiliar room met her sight. Of course, she was in Amity Park, it wasn't Haley down stairs in the kitchen cooking pancakes, it was probably Grammy Manson. Sun was filtering through Sam's open window along with a soft breeze. She could have sworn she close both the windows and her curtains last night. Sam rolled over to face the door. It was open, just a crack but Sam knew she had definitely shut it last night before bed.

'Probably just Grams.' She thought to her self as she rolled out of bed and dressed herself quickly. She had gotten good at that, being ready in seconds, she'd had to - after all the years of always needing to be ready to go hunt down a demon or some other such creature, all of the girls had the trick of instant readiness down pat.

Sam walked down the stairs, her lilac, knee-length halter dress swishing around her legging-clad legs, her combat boots making heavy steps on the stairs as she finished pinning her hair up. The satchel belt secure around her waist, the compass attached to the small loop on the side. Sam walked into the kitchen and stopped dead.

"What are you doing?" Right there in her Grandmothers kitchen was Danny, the boy from yesterday who had helped with the bags.

"I'm cooking pancakes, you want some?" He turned and smiled at her briefly before flipping the pancake in the air and catching it in the pan.

"Do you live here or something?" Sam slid onto one of the seats at the kitchen counter.

"Nope." Was all he said. Sam tapped her fingers on the counter's black marble surface.

"So why are you here, cooking pancakes, at seven in the morning?"

"Because it's Saturday." Right like that was an actual reason.

"Care to elaborate?"

Danny paused his cooking and looked at her.

"A four syllable word this early on a weekend. Well first, I think that's the first four syllable word I've ever heard before nine on a Saturday, second, Saturday morning pancakes is a tradition." Danny smiled at her again and went back to cooking pancakes. Sam tapped her fingers against the counter top again.

"So how do you know my Grams?"

"We met a few years ago. There was this incident, she helped us out so we repaid her by helping out around the house with chores. In the end she took a liking to us, so now we help out with the chores and shopping and stuff and Grammy Manson lets us study here."

"Right. Okay, two things. One, us and we. Two, why can't you study at home?"

"Okay two things. One, us and we would be my older sister Jazz, my best friend Tucker and myself. Two, my parents are ghost hunters, their inventions like to target me and the house is generally in chaos, and Tucker's place, well there's too much techno-junk to move an inch without tripping over something. Plus Grammy Manson makes awesome chocolate chip cookies."

Sam nodded her head, his explanation sounded reasonable enough but…

"What was the incident and why are you making so many Pancakes?"

"The incident is confidential, if I told you I'd have to kill you. There are so many pancakes because Jazz and Tucker are coming for breakfast, and then there's you and me and Grams too. You do like pancakes right?"

Sam thought she heard the front door open so she swivelled in her seat. Seconds later a young woman with orangey hair walked through the kitchen door accompanied by a slightly younger African-American boy with a red beret. They froze the second they saw Sam. Behind Sam, Danny smiled and gave a quick wave to the two new people.

"Hey guys, this is Sam. Sam, this is Jazz and Tucker."

"Hi." Jazz and Tucker spoke in unison, a sly look crossing their faces. Sam felt the same impending doom-type feeling she had felt last night when she had been speaking to Phantom; she doubted this scenario was going to end quite as well.

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

Grammy Manson had come down to breakfast just as the four had finished setting the table and cooking the food. The table was laden with pancakes and syrups and all kinds of spreads for pancakes including smooth peanut butter, Sam's favourite. The table had been quiet for most of the meal, but towards the end Grammy Manson decided to raise a question. Grammy Manson had called Casper High late yesterday and had gotten Sam enrolled and she was now wondering if Danny, Jazz and Tucker would mind taking Sam shopping for school supplies. That was how they had gotten into their current predicament.

Danny and Sam were behind a counter, separated from Jazz and Tucker. A strange creature that looked like a woman, floated in the air at the centre of the food court, the other shoppers had run the second the creature appeared.

"So, does this happen often around here?" Sam asked Danny quietly. Danny nodded.

"Once or twice a day, when it's quiet, five or six is busy." Sam looked at him.

"So this thing-"

"Ghost." Danny glanced at Sam as he corrected her.

"Right, ghost. What's its weaknesses, powers, tactics? Give me a run down."

"Okay, not sure I can give you tactics or weaknesses but powers I can do." Danny pulled out what looked like a compact camera from his back pocket, took a picture of the ghost and showed Sam the screen.

"Powers include; pyro-kinesis, levitation, intangibility and invisibility. Pyro-kinesis? That's her main power? How do we get rid of her?"

Sam noticed Danny give her a strange look.

"We? Oh no, you do not; I get rid of the ghost."

"Okay Mr. Hero-Complex, how do you get rid of the ghost?"

"I stick her in the… oh crap," Danny looked around quickly, clearly worried.

"What, what did you lose?" Sam put her hand on Danny's shoulder, tingles shooting up her arm. She removed her hand and looked at it, last time her hand had tingled like that, her witch senses had been telling her the person she was touching was her innocent. Sam rolled her eyes; she would never escape this craziness.

"You remember that green and white thermos I was carrying? It's called the Fenton Thermos and it's used to catch and hold ghosts. I think I may have dropped it."

"Wow, you must feel stupid." Danny glared at her before rubbing his hand over his eyes. Sam stuck her head up above the counter, scanned the room and ducked back down just in time to avoid getting hit by a fireball thrown by the ghost.

"It's over by the plants to our… right? Facing it the plants are to our left but since were facing away from it it's to our right."

"Thanks." Danny stood up and Sam pulled him back down a split second before another fireball flew overhead.

"You'll need a distraction if you even hope of getting over there."

"Yeah, I noticed that. Just one problem - where are we going to get a distraction?"

"Oh, over the years I've found I can be very distracting. How long would it take you to get to the thermos?"

"Not long, five seconds to reach it maybe another five to get the ghost in, if she's distracted. Wait a minute, what are you planning?"

"I'll give you the distraction you need, you've got ten seconds."

As Sam leapt over the counter and instantly started dodging fireballs, she was struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu. This was not the first time she had dodged fireballs, she'd been dodging them quite often since the Circle of Five first started saving innocents, although the first time she had been hit and was not nearly as agile as she was now. Selene and Haley had pushed Sam, Zoey and Barbra into taking gymnastics with them and five years of it had paid off. Sam flipped onto a table, a fireball just missing the edges of her skirt. Sam was very happy about her habit of wearing leggings or shorts underneath her dresses. Sam paid no attention to the room around her; relying instead on her witches sense to guide her, and help her dodge the attacks without running into anything.

At the edge of her hearing Sam heard a sound that reminded her of the numerous portals she had encountered, and a scream, she dodged one final fireball and opened her eyes. She was perched rather dangerously on a sign in front of one of the food stalls, a few feet away was Danny looking up at her with a strange look on his face, the ghost nowhere in sight. Sam shrugged at Danny as if to say, 'What?' and flipped off the sign onto the ground. Danny continued to give her that look.

"Five years of gymnastics." Was all she said as way of explanation. Danny's expression changed, he was willing to believe that.

"It did you good, that was amazing. I don't think I've ever seen anyone move like that before."

"What, you don't watch the gymnastics on TV? I told you I was good at being distracting." Sam gave him a sort of half smile.

"You're not hurt are you?" Sam shook her head and looked him over.

"What about you, Mr. Hero-Complex?"

"Fine, I think we should go find Jazz and Tucker now, they have our shopping." Danny looped his arm through Sam's and promptly began to drag her in the direction they had last seen Jazz and Tucker headed. Under normal circumstances Sam would have slapped Danny upside the head for not only touching but dragging her, but he was her innocent until proven otherwise, and truth be told he was kinda adorable, in a goofy-hero-complex kinda way.

* * *

Ummm... so yeah that was chapter four and I'm still tossing up the idea of a companion piece and maybe even a prequel for this one, just so you lot can know what Sam got up to in her witch years. Offer still stands, if you're unclear about anything tell me and I'll try to explain it better. Thanks for reading, and the updates should be back to a regular update every... well I don't know what day my normal update day is for you people but it's Friday for me, anyway regular updates should recommence not this week but next week, there should still be a new chapter though... I', rambling so I'm gonna shut up now and go get a snack. 


	5. Academic Battleground

Hey this wasn't her before... no realy it wasn't a lame and mean prank was, but no longer haha!

* * *

Of Witches and Ghosts

Chapter five: Academic Battleground

After the incident on Saturday at the food court, the weekend progressed in a quiet manner. Sam spent Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday in her room looking through her album. When Monday came around, Sam was filled with a strange sense of dread. Maybe after what had happened to Zoey less than four weeks ago, she was just on edge. Or maybe the rift that had closed when the Circle had banished the Daemons had re-opened nearby. Sam shook her head as she dressed, certain that her worries were unfounded; she just wasn't used to this town or its' people, or its' ghosts.

After breakfast with her Grams, Sam left for her first day at school. Somehow, when she found Danny waiting for her at her gate, she wasn't surprised. The two teens walked together in silence until they reached the school. Sam stopped at the entrance, Danny walked two feet before he realised she was no longer beside him.

"You okay Sam?" Danny stepped closer, concern clearly marked his facial features. "You know it's not really that bad at Casper High. Well, as long as you're not getting stuffed into lockers."

Sam took a deep breath and unconsciously pulled a bit of calming energy from the earth. If she could fight demons and banshees and that god damn succubus from France, then she could damn well go to a new high school.

"Danny, if those students kill me I will blame you so much that I will haunt your sorry arse till you die." Danny went pale and gave her a mock salute.

"Yes ma'am, if you'll come this way I'll walk you to your, and inevitably my, doom." Danny linked his arm with Sam's as he led her into the school.

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

"So new girl, did you get attacked by the ghost of bad fashion sense this morning or is that really what you wear?" Sam had only been in class five seconds and she was already starting to loathe this annoying Hispanic brat that Danny had earlier identified as Paulina Sanchez. Sam checked her outfit. There was nothing wrong with the baggy black jeans and dark green sweater she wore. A quick glamour spell and Sam could make it look like Paulina's hair was falling out, but since she was no longer casting spells she would have to settle for a witty retort. If only she had one.

"Ouch, you know you should be careful or you might accidentally cut yourself on that sharp wit of yours. Really, attacking me about my bad fashion sense when I really don't care what you think, it wounds me deeply. Now go play with your Barbie dolls or something." Sam made a shooing motion with her hand, certain she had just started a war between herself and the brat.

"Whatever. Weirdo." Oh yeah, that was a powerful come back. Paulina and her little group turned away from Sam and began some sort of mindless gossip swap. A dark skinned girl on the other side of Sam leaned over to her.

"That was very smooth, although you probably just started a war with the school's queen bee. I'm Valerie by the way." Valerie stuck out her hand for Sam to shake. Valerie's grip was strong, Sam noticed the slight callous' on her hands first then the manicured nails and finally the fact that both their thumbs were on top. Valerie had only just met Sam and already Valerie was seeing her as an equal.

"Sam, nice to meet you." Sam felt the corners of her lips tug upwards slightly. Valerie opened her mouth to say something more but was cut off but the teacher up the front. Mr. Lancer, balding with a potbelly, reminded Sam of a Kurash beast she had met in the library of Tore. It troubled Sam that even though she was attempting to lead a normal life she kept drawing parallels to her old life; demon filled, spell casting glory days. Sam was startled out of her musings a few minutes later as Danny re-entered the room. He had left abruptly a few moments before Sam's confrontation with Paulina. It was curious that he had been gone so long, even for a toilet break. Even more curious was the exchange of looks between Danny and Mr. Lancer. Whatever Danny had been doing it seemed that Mr. Lancer already knew.

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

Sam usually liked sport. Really she did, when it was chasing after a demon or scaling down the side of a building in a daring escape from boredom but this, this was just ridiculous. High school phys. ed. was the very bottom of the sporting barrel. The bitching in the changing room had been bad enough; luckily Sam's ability to change in seconds meant she had been in and out before the other girls had noticed the faint tattoo like mark and her single remaining scar.

"So Sam," Valerie started as the two girls stretched. "Did you do much sport back home?" Oh joy, an inquiring mind.

"I suppose." Sam looked at Valerie. Valerie looked at Sam.

"Alright I'll admit I did my fair share of running about and jumping and climbing and checkers."

"Checkers isn't a sport."

"Oh yes it is." Sam gave Valerie a grim smile as she remembered the event two and a half years ago which had ended in Haley nearly loosing an arm.

"Okay Sam, if you say so."

The girls finished their warm ups just as the rest of the female portion of the class came out of the changing rooms. Sam and Valerie took off for the outdoor track, three laps as ordered by the coach.

"Hey Valerie, what do you know about the ghosts in this town?"

Sam looked at Valerie from the corner of her eye as they ran side by side.

"Well first I'd just like to say: finally some one else who can run and chat at the same time. As for the ghosts, what do you want to know?" Running and talking had been a requirement for spell casting on the run, another useful habit from her witch days.

"I heard some one mention a ghost called Phantom earlier, who is he?" Sam thought she noticed Valerie falter slightly and her curiosity grew.

"Phantom is… an interesting case. He's not exactly like other ghosts."

"How so?"

"Well, most ghosts have obsessions that are blatantly obvious to every one who meets them. Phantom, about five years ago he showed up pretty much out of the blue with the rest of the ghosts."

"I sense a but coming on." Valerie smiled a bit.

"But he's shown no real signs of obsession, not like the other ghosts. He does protect the town sort of."

"Hmmm, there's another but on its way." Valerie let out a short laugh.

"But, I'm not entirely convinced his motives are as plain as he seems to want every one to think, although he could just be playing head games with everyone. It seems like the sort of thing a ghost prince might do."

This time it was Sam who faltered slightly.

"Ghost prince?"

"King actually. Every time some one calls him the King he always says Prince, apparently 'King' makes him feel old." The two girls looked at each other quickly before they started laughing. Sam hadn't laughed in a long time not since - she sobered immediately. How could she be laughing? It didn't seem right and yet, with all the horrors they girls had seen they had learnt to distance themselves. Sam couldn't see how she could distance herself from Zoey's death, maybe it was the dream, the one in which Zoey had told her she was becoming a guardian.

"Hey earth to Sam. Come in Sam." Sam looked to her right. Oh gods she'd never rid herself of him.

"Hello Danny."

"Nice deadpan," Valerie said from her left. "You ok Sam? You went kinda quiet there."

"Not to mention you just ran a quarter of the track in autopilot," Danny added.

"I'm fine." Sam shook her head slightly and increased her speed, leaving the other two in her wake.

DSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDS

Sam was thankful phys. ed. had been the last class of the day; she just wanted this day to be over and the tingle in her side to go away. Sam waited by the indoor bleachers for dismissal after she changed back into her street clothes. Most of the class was out of the change rooms already and their teacher looked ready to let them go when the door at the far end of the indoor sports centre were blasted open. Sam's head whipped around hoping against all hope she had been wrong but no. The rest of the class and the teacher took of in the other direction, all screaming at the top of their lungs. The residence of Amity Park had suffered from ghost attacks for five years now, as long as Sam had been a witch, it amazed her how they could be scared so easily by what could very well be another ghost. Pity it wasn't. It was a Heat Fiend. The only demonic creature to ever leave a scar on Sam's body. The scar rested on her right side, along one of her ribs. It had an annoying habit of tingling whenever a Heat Fiend or any of its kin were nearby. Pity Sam only had protection-shield and energy sapping potions. This whole day seemed like a giant pity party. The Heat Fiend floated toward her speaking in its demonic tongue.

"_So, the little nymphling is all alone, where are the witch sisters now nymphling. Left you to burn all alone did them? I think I shall enjoy destroying you_." The Fiend began to laugh; the sound filled Sam with a primal fear. The scar she bore now might be small but the original damage… she didn't even want to remember the state her body had been in. She would have died if not for _the other_. She could not dwell on the past now, now she had to figure out how to destroy it. The Fiend moved closer to Sam, she was routed in place from fear. She hated the feeling. A feeling she hated even more was the feeling of the Fiend's thermal air pocket drying out her skin, as it was now. She had to move, she had to put distance between herself and the Fiend until she could create a spell to destroy it.

"_The fear of a nymphling, sweet, lustrous fear. Goes good with their charred remains. Eat you then your trees I think_." Sam hated the way Heat Fiends spoke; strange sounds and strange grammar. The fiend reached for Sam and she could feel her body drying out, her mind slowed down and her thoughts became hazy. She didn't entirely register the green light blast that hit the fiend's air pocket; she didn't entirely register falling backwards into the arms of a white hair ghost or him carrying her outside. Sam's consciousness ebbed back slowly; the heat had damaged her like a plant that got too much light, so her mind stayed pretty hazy. Sam stayed in a semi-sleep until she felt a cold hand stroke the side of her face gently. She roused herself enough to open her eyes and look at the perpetrator.

"Phantom." Her voice came out as a bare whisper. Her eyes roamed the area around her and she realised she was in the girls changing rooms, there were showers nearby.

"Sam are you ok?"

"Mm."

Phantom smoothed back her hair that had come loose and looked at her in concern.

"Heat fiend; you have to cool the air around it then attack." Speaking was a strain on Sam's tired body and she blacked out for a few seconds, rousing in time to see phantom go back out the doors, probably to fight the fiend. Sam slumped onto her side and dragged her self beneath the shower turning on the cold water. A few years ago, after the first time she had fought a heat fiend, Sam had learnt about her power to regenerate from wounds, and while she couldn't regenerate limbs, she could absorb water straight through her skin. Instant re-hydration. Sam lay under the water for about ten minutes before her full strength had returned, and so had Phantom. He flew through the doors and glided over to her.

"Sam, what are you doing? You're soaked."

"Aw, you're just sad my top isn't see-through. Help me up." Sam held out her hand and Phantom took it, pulling her to her feet. Sam tried to drop his hand but Phantom wasn't letting go. Sam huffed at him and used her free hand to turn off the water.

"Can I have my hand back please?"

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That attacks only work on that thing after the external air temperature has been lowered substantially."

"That was a lot of big words, trying to impress me with your vocabulary, Highness?" Phantom stiffened at the title. "Who told you?"

"That you needed to lower the air temperature?"

"No, that I'm the ghost prince."

"Are you going to get angry and hurt them?"

"No." Phantom narrowed his gaze at Sam, she just shrugged.

"How'd you become ghost king-prince-whatever anyway?" Sam started tugging her hand trying to free it from Phantom's grasp.

"I beat the hell out of the old King a few years ago. Are you going to tell me or not?"

"What, who told me you were the king-prince thingy?"

"No, how you knew to lower the air temperature."

"Oh. Don't jump around so much in your conversations. It confuses people, heck I'm surprised you don't confuse yourself." Sam glared at Phantom; Phantom glared at Sam.

"You know that top may not be see-through when wet, but it definitely clings well." Phantom smirked before disappearing, no visible Phantom, no hand on her wrist, he was just gone.

"Pervert." Something told Sam all of their meetings would probably end similar to this.

* * *

Had you lot going there for a minute didn't I, calm down, I'm not dead, I just feel like it. Seriously sorry for the delay but between QCS, Course production, exams, Cultural fest, designing the surprise and getting a life I just really haven't had a lot of time to write. Really sorry. By now you lot should know the drill, flame, comments and proposals are acceptable, can't guarantee you like the answer and don't forget: if you don't get it, ask. 


	6. Memory lane, a return trip

Oh My Goddess I'm back from the dead… seriously how many of you took that seriously…. That's what I thought, and how many of you took that seriously until you read the second author's note at the bottom of the chapter…. Figures…. Ok now for the real question: how many of you noticed that chapter five was called chapter _FOUR_, come on be honest, uh-huh, see how you don't notice stuff and before you go back and look I've already fixed it, I fixed it when I posted this. Hahahaha #cough cough# I'm fine!

**One more thing:** this chapter may not be suitable for young children as it has semi-graphic descriptions of the incident which left Sam with the scar, it's really quiet gruesome if you can picture it… moving right along…wait this is rated T as in Teenagers are the youngest audience allowed to read it…. Huh.

**One more thing again:** ABCB refers to a type of rhyming couplets, the odd numbered lines don't rhyme, the even numbered lines rhyme in sets of two 2 and 4 or 6 and 8 etc.

* * *

Of Witches and Ghosts

Chapter six: Memory lane, a return trip.

Sam sat cross legged on her bed, in clean, dry clothes, as she finished towel drying her hair, her body couldn't absorb any more water so her hair was still wet from the incident in the change rooms earlier that afternoon. Open in front of her was her album. It occurred to Sam that this wasn't healthy, remembering the past so often she was almost living in it, but Sam, being Sam, didn't care.

What was she doing? Zoey was dead. The chances that the dream was real and she really was becoming a guardian were slim to none at best. Five years.

They had known each other for five years. Four almost four and a half of those years they had lived in the same house with the other three girls. A witch sorority Haley had called it. Haley had always come up with wacky words and odd names for things; it had been part of her charm. Briefly Sam wondered if Selene felt the loss of Zoey, even if she didn't remember, did she still feel sad like she lost her family? Maybe the amnesia had been a good thing for Selene, maybe now that her 'real' family was finally taking notice of her, and now that she didn't have to worry about demons, maybe just maybe Selene would put her old thieving habits behind her. Sam was sure Selene would retain her super reflexes although they might not be at the same level she had trained them to.

Sam shook her head to clear her thoughts then hopped off the bed to do her practice stretches like she had been taught for so many years of gymnastics. Sam's routine incorporated gymnastic stretches along with tai chi and Martial arts moves, the ability to defend themselves had been crucial to the girls, there were more than a few instances when their magic had been blocked and they'd had to rely on hand-to-hand. Man, did she have nostalgia bad, well she wasn't the only one who had something bad. Phantom seemed to be a class-A-perve. Still something felt familiar about him, maybe if she opened her witch's senses to him, no, she couldn't keep using her powers, but Danny was her charge and she had to protect him. She hated the Powers that be so much right then.

Sam finished her stretches and climbed into bed, the energy required to absorb the water had taken a lot out of her, she was asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.

* * *

Sam was running; the beast was close behind her; she was drying out; where were the witches? Weren't they supposed to protect magical creatures like herself, surely they didn't think a wood nymph beneath them. Unless what the beast had said was true: witches only look after their own. It didn't matter, Sam had to get away, she had to loose the beast before she returned to her forest or it would follow her surely and destroy the forest and her and the other wood nymphs that lived there. Sam thought she heard her name being called; she ignored it as she made her way to the safe haven, a fountain with gardens around it, from there she could flow back to the forest and the beast wouldn't be able to follow her.

She just made it to the safe haven, her bare feet slapping against the cobble stone paths when she heard the beast roar close behind her and voices shout a warning.

"SAM! GET DOWN!" Sam let herself fall onto the grass beside the path as she turned around to see the danger coming at her with roaring intensity, the beast had unleashed a pillar of fire at her, covering her, burning her, destroying her. Sam hit the ground in a wave if ever intensifying pain, she let the grass below absorb her and carry her into the growth network, let it's current pull her along, to lost in the pain to direct her travel, there was no way her body would ever recover form the damage even with her power of regeneration, her flesh had melted away, her muscles had burnt, her blood had literally begun to boil in the intensity of the blaze. It felt like an eternity of pain before Sam became aware of the voice calling her. It was _the other_. He pulled her to him and a calming energy washed over her, her pain faded away and she slept long and deep and without dreams.

When Sam awoke a week had past and she was shocked to find her body _had _healed. Her muscles had been repaired and her skin was unblemished except for one small scar along the line of her ribs on her right side.

"It was difficult," A voice came in her mind, soft and caring but still it startled Sam, "repairing so much damage was not easy but we did our best. You body refuse to let the scar be healed, a good thing perhaps, it will serve as a warning next time such creatures are near." Sam scanned her surrounds looking for the one the voice came from; she was in what appeared to be a nest of some sort made from living plants.

"Thank you, for healing me," Sam said aloud still looking around, "but who are you?"

"I am like you, apart of the growth yet separate from it. You are not normally so connected with the growth; it tells me you have been changed by others who are as you are now."

"What- oh, you mean the wood nymphs, I am a wood… no, I'm not, I was a witch...I think."

"Then that is what you must once more become."

"But I'd loose the ability to move along the growth. To go from place to place via the plant's network, how can I give that up?"

"You don't have to, a gift from us to you, because you help to protect us, we give you a tool which will aid you; your powers, they feel like mine, perhaps in time you would have developed this naturally, who can truly say. Do your duty, go home."

A force pushed Sam back into and along the growth's network, spinning her, disorientating her and finally thrusting her out in a very familiar room.

* * *

Sam was disorientated to the point of nausea when her world shifted suddenly.

"I remember that, you fell out of that damn bonsai tree of yours right into the living room while the rest of us were doing our umpteen million and fourth location spell, the fact that you were naked really didn't help the situation."

Sam quickly recognized the back chamber of the library of Tore and in the seat across from her: legs propped up on the table, giant book that she obviously wasn't reading in her lap.

"Hello Zoey. And it's not my fault I was naked, the other can't heal clothes, besides there wasn't any dress left to heal." Sam sat precariously on the arm of a sofa opposite Zoey.

"Still, you turned into a wood nymph and ended up naked, the magical community would never have let that go if we had of told them. I wonder what Danny would have thought?"

"Oh I get it now." Sam slapped her forehead lightly.

"Get what?" Zoey put her book down and stood up.

"I keep dreaming of you because of my guilt over what happened to you, this is me trying to make myself feel better, I dreamt of the first time I met a heat fiend because one just showed up at my new school, the dream location of our conversation is the library of Tore because I was also thinking about it today and your asking what Danny thinks because I'm kinda starting to like him… or maybe I'm secretly suspicious of him because of the really long 'toilet' break."

"Hm," Zoey crossed her arms and looked thoughtful before briefly nodding at Sam.

"Ok Ivy, your logic is sound for normal situations, but since when have we ever been subject to normal situations? You know for a fact that when manipulating dreams, locations are easy to conjure if the person and or people have been thinking about them, and by you own admission you were thinking about the library. As for Danny he- wait, it just occurred to me; you said a heat fiend showed up at your new school today?"

Sam nodded once.

"Ok Ivy that's not possible, we shut the rift at the same time we banished the Daemons back to Hel, I remember time went wonky and I could see everything, probably because I was dead but still, I remember seeing the rift close. Heat fiends can only come through the rifts between the Under-Hel and earth. A new rift must have opened, but how, when; you'd think the head honcho's would have told me or let me know this sort of thing, if they knew, what if they don't know."

Sam watched Zoey pace backed forth fidgeting with her hand just as she had done so many times before.

"This means you are gonna have to find the new rift, you might want to see what _the book_ says on newly formed rifts see if there's anyway to detect them, scry out some allies, oh and Ivy you might want to go to market, see if any of the neutrals know anything."

Sam shook her head.

"Hell no, I have my own issues to deal with, like a certain ghost who's eyes roam a little too much." Sam stood with her hands on her hips glaring at her dead friend, "just because you're dead doesn't mean I'm going back to a life of demons and hexes and losing innocents, heck Zoey I gave it up _because_ you died."

"POISON IVY! That is who you are; remember the oath we made over _the book_? We will never let an innocent die if we can prevent it, we will protect all who need protecting, we gave up having normal safe lives by our own free will, I don't want you to go back on your word just because I died in order to reach my next destiny, my part in the prophecy has been completed, if you don't believe that this is any more than a dream then I'll send you a sign ok? And as for the 'Phantom issue,' yeah I know which ghost you're talking about, well it's your own fault for magnifying his natural attraction to you."

"Zoey what the hell are you talking about? I didn't magnify anyone's attraction to me."

Zoey stalked over to Sam, placed her index finger on Sam's forehead and pushed her back, right into another dream memory.

* * *

"Beltane is the holiday of love and it would be only right that we use our magic to spread said love. Please Sam? Poison Ivy. Please join us, it'll be fun, I promise." It was the first Beltane, Valentine's Day, after the girls had received the book, two months after they had all moved into the house Barbra's parents owned but never used, and Haley was pestering Sam into trying a finding love spell with the rest of the girls. Sam being the 'I don't need a guy' type was refusing, until Haley started whining.

"Fine! What do I do?" Sam let herself be dragged to the kitchen

"Okay, first you write a spell saying what you what you guy to be like, you say it then you put it in the cauldron-"

"We have an actual cauldron now?"

"-and then when all of the spells are in we light it on fire ok, easy."

Haley seated Sam at the large round table the girls had bought as their house warming present to themselves. The other three were already there writing there spells. Haley slid into the seat next to Sam and smiled encouragingly; Sam tried to smile back and failed miserably. Sam looked at the pad of lined paper before her and thought about what she would want in a guy if she ever did get a boyfriend, in four or five years when she was old enough, she was only thirteen for goodness sake, the oldest one among them was Selene, she beat Barbra by two months, and Selene was only fourteen herself, how they had convinced their parents to let them live by themselves Sam didn't know, oh wait yes she did, they'd lied to parents that hadn't really cared much for their kids anyway.

Sam decided that, with all the demons and things she'd seen in the past two months since accepting the duty of a member of the circle of five, being able to accept the things that she saw and did would be a must for her guy, and he should be able to show her things too, and fight along side her, be her equal, and be able to make her smile, he had to be able to put up with her unlike the other boys she'd met at parties with her parents and he had to have personality, not just be the same all the time though, he had to treat her as the warrior she was but also pamper her sometimes, as for looks she was undecided but she knew the two aspects she wanted most; keeping in mind spells worked better when they rhymed Sam, deciding on an ABCB approach, wrote her spell.

"Ok," Haley asked suddenly, "everyone got their spells, Zoey can start and we'll go clockwise around the table." Everyone nodded, that arrangement made Sam last which she wast fine with. The others read their spells and Sam was interested to know what sort of people the others were interested in, finally it was Sam's turn, she drew a breath and began to read.

"My perfect partner is:

Someone who can handle my world

And show me the stars,

A man who will fight for me

And shares my battle scars.

A man who can match me

And makes me smile,

Wild, carefree, cold and mysterious

He can stand me for more then a while.

Hair black and white

Eyes blue and green,

Treats me like a warrior

And treats me like a queen."

Sam threw her paper into the cauldron, which they apparently _did_ have and watched as Haley lit the contents.

Sam woke with such a start when her alarm clock went off that she bolted straight into a sitting position. She thought over the dreams she'd had last night, the memory of the heat fiend attack and her guilt dream of Zoey she could understand, but her memory of the finding love spell?

"What the Hell does that have to do with _anything_?"

* * *

Ha-ha. Chapter six and most of you thought it wouldn't happen. If you guys and gals still don't get why the 'finding love spell' relates to anything don' worry Sam doesn't either and Zoey will spell it out for her later. FIVE GUESSES: WHO CAN TELL ME THE IDENITY OF _THE OTHER_????????? Oh come on it's an easy one. And you lot can review it's not a sin…. Really how will I know if you want me to keep writing or even stop writing or if I'm the only one who understands what I'm writing? Rhetorical question. 


	7. Signs and the road to market

Hey lookit, its chapter seven wow, chapter seven I didn't think I would last this long. Big grin. Not a lot to tell you lot 'cept the surprise is coming along quite nicely, at least I think it is. Just a reminder/note: Sam is Poison Ivy, Zoey is Zantana, Barbra is Batgirl, Haley is Harlequin and Selene is Catwoman. Just for those of you who didn't know or forgot.

* * *

Of Witches And Ghosts

Chapter seven: signs and the road to market.

Sam was eating breakfast with her Grams when the first sign came, but Sam being Sam, was cautious.She was just finishing of her toast when the radio switched on by itself startling them both.

"_I don't believe you know me although you know my name_

_I don't believe the thoughts I have are only mine to claim_

_I don't believe that magic is only in the night_

_I don't believe I'd love somebody just to pass the time-"_

The radio blared with static for a moment before continuing.

"_I don't believe that beauty will ever be replaced_

_I don't believe a masterpiece will ever match your face_

_The joker's always smiling in every hand that's dealt_

_I don't believe that when you die your presence isn't felt." _

The radio went dead once more and Sam exchanged a look with her Grams. Sam excused her self from the table quickly, while her Grandmother might think the radio strange Sam felt differently, Sam knew Zoey chose that song, if it was Zoey. It could have been a demon sending her those dreams, messing with her head; but how would a demon know about that song.

* * *

Danny was waiting for her again when she left the house, today he was accompanied by Tucker who was doing… something-or-other on his PDA which Sam suspected was somehow grafted to him. Just as they reached school Valerie jogged over to them and the group exchanged a series of 'hello's and 'morning's. Then came the second sign. Tucker's PDA sent out static for a second before the second song blared to life. 

"_And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming_

_Or the moment of truth in your lies_

_When everything feels like the movies_

_Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive_

_And I don't want the world to see me_

'_Cause I don't think that they'd understand_

_When everything's made to be broken_

_I just want you to know who I am."_

The PDA gave off a second wave of static before resuming whatever it had been doing.

Three out of four teens looked at each other, then Tucker spoke up.

"Technus must be loose." Sam looked at him startled.

"Who's Technus?" She scanned their faces waiting for an explanation.

"He's a ghost who manipulates technology." Valerie explained.

"And, my arch nemesis," Tucker added.

Sam noticed Danny looked worried, he was also being very quiet about the subject. What worried Sam was the fact she knew that look. She'd seen it on the other girls of the circle, heck she'd probably worn it to. Over the years the girls had dealt with the police a quite few times, especially when a demonic serial killer was on the loose. That look was the look the girls got when they heard the police's theories and _knew,_ not just suspected but knew that the police were wrong. So why was Danny wearing that look? What did he know that made him positive it wasn't this Technus? Her charge was turning out to a bit of an enigma.

* * *

The third sign came sometime during her English class with Mr. Lancer. The PA crackled to life and the third song poured from it into the classroom. 

"_Everywhere I go_

_Every smile I see_

_I know you are there_

_Smiling back at me_

_Dancin' in moonlight_

_I know you are free _

'_Cause I can see your star_

_Shining down on me."_

Once more the static crackled on the airwaves before silence took over once again, only to be interrupted seconds later by the class's uproar. Theories flew around the class room, most involving the ghost, Technus, that the others had mention that morning. But Sam knew the truth, now she was sure. No demon could have possibly known to use, not just those songs, but those verses, even the song during breakfast, the chorus had been cut exactly like Zoey's song mix. Years ago Zoey had taken her favourite versus from her three favourite songs and cut them into her own mix. It had been the first thing on her Ipod. Sam made her decision right then and there; if Zoey was still alive, in some shape or form, then the circle of five still existed and Sam still had her duty. Sam smiled and thought about calling Barbra to tell her the news when she noticed Danny, Tucker and Valerie with their heads close together. Sam used her witch's sense to tune into their conversation, filtering out the background noise as only a circle witch could. The conversation came into clarity as Mr. Lancer walked over to the trio and crouched down by their tables. An uncomfortable act in his slacks, Sam was sure.

"So what's going on? Is it that Technus fellow again?"

Danny shook his head.

"I don't know if it is a ghost. My ghost sense hasn't gone off, and… that _thing_ in the gym yesterday, the one that nearly killed Sam, it wasn't a ghost. Actually…" Danny trailed off.

"Actually…" Valeria prompted. For a moment Danny looked uncertain, and then he spoke.

"Sam called it a heat fiend." The teacher looked at him strangely.

"Sam? As in Miss Manson?"

Wait a minute that didn't make sense.

"Yep," Danny replied with a nod.

She'd told Phantom what it was called, not Danny.

The group of four looked at her surprised to find her looking at them with a shocked and slightly confused expression on her face.

* * *

After school Sam left for home as quickly as possible, ignoring Valerie's requests for her to wait up. She broke into a run a block from the school glad that no one was on the side walk. Sam made it home in almost record timing, running up to her room she instantly began to riffle through her belongings, searching for the first item she had ever been given by a demon of any sort; the one item that would let her get to where she wanted to go: to market.

* * *

"_I AM THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA!" _Kalush shouted. The girls exchanged looks trying their hardest not to laugh at him. 

"_WHAT AMUSES YOU MORTALS?"_ Anger oozed form the ten foot, silver eyed Daemon, his voice booming like thunder, shaking the earth around him. A year after they had received the book the girls had fought a lot of demons, but Kalush was the first Daemon the girls had ever met.

"I'm sorry but," Sam stifled her laughter as the others lost control and burst out laughing, Haley laughing so hard she fell over.

"Ahem- you called yourself 'the alpha and the omega,'" once more Sam had to stop and compose herself.

"Come on, that is just so cliché, I mean, how can you expect us to take you seriously enough to vanquish, sorry." Sam tried to look serious and failed miserably. Kalush's demonic form began to glow and the girls sobered immediately, taking up fighting stances, ready to attack or dodge. The light surrounding Kalush coalesced and formed a solid shield between him and the girls. Sam shut her eyes and opened her senses, feeling and seeing the area with her minds eye, a trick the others had not quite mastered yet. Sam felt the light dissipate and tentatively opened her real eyes. Sam's jaw dropped at the sight before her.

"Kalush?" She asked warily.

"Sam, I can't see." Haley whispered, echoed by the others. They must not have shut their eyes in case Kalush attacked. But surely the light had not been bright enough to blind them.

"Human eyes can't handle the intensity of the light's frequency."

Sam glared at the boy now standing in Kalush's place.

"Can their eyes be fixed?" Sam took in the boy's appearance; black baggy jeans, loose black shirt, black sneakers. His hair was a silvery white and his eyes were the same demonic quicksilver Kalush's were. He chortled.

"You and your friends threatened to vanquish me, I'm going to ignore the part were you told me I wasn't worth it; what makes you think I would help you or tell you anything that could in any way, shape or form result in a desirable outcome for you?" The boy, who could only be Kalush's human form, walked forward until he was only centimetres away from Sam.

"Because I still have the vanquishing potion and if you don't tell me, I will put you in a time shatter halfway through you vanquish."

"Eternal perpetual vanquish," Kalush smirked and leaned closer, Sam refused to even flinch.

"That's demonically cruel, _Vivasha_." Kalush whispered as his eyes scanned Sam's face; she tried to move back only to find herself stuck in place.

"You should have read your little _book_ more carefully _Vivasha_, the 'a' in my species name is not a spelling mistake, it puts me in a whole other ballpark from even the high level demons. You _can't_ vanquish me with a little potion; none of my kind can be _vanquished_." Kalush stroked Sam's cheek with the back of his hand; Sam tried with every fibre of her being, ever ounce of power she had to knock his hand away, but to no avail.

"There's a tincture made from ColdWarp, a plant that can be easily bought at the Demon's Market, it can cure their sight," Kalush stepped back casually gesturing to the four girls behind Sam who were also held in paralysis. Keeping his voice low he continued.

"The recipe should be in that _book_ of yours, this will grant you access to the market but I've been out of the game for a while so I don't know what the current asking price is. Good luck _Vivasha_." Kalush, with a smirk planted firmly across his face, threw a ring on the ground at Sam's feet, release his hold on all five of the girls, who promptly slumped to the ground, and before Sam realized it, Kalush was gone leaving only the entry ring.

* * *

Sam opened a draw and there on top of _the book_ was the entry ring Kalush had given her so long ago. She still had no idea what _Vivasha_ meant, all she knew was that it was ancient Daemon and when the creatures at the market had found out Kalush had called her that they were more than willing to help her out. Slipping on the market entry ring Sam checked her clothes, artefacts and her potion pouch, the market was neutral territory but you could never tell who might be trying to disrupt things. Sam left the house and let the ring pull her to the closest entrance to the market, which turned out to be a ring activated portal in a thicket of trees hidden in the forest area in the park. Sam stopped in front of the portal and took a deep breath, she hadn't been to market in months, before Zoey had die- no, before she had become a guardian. Sam let out the breath she had been holding and stepped through the portal, a tingle running through her body as she emerged onto the dusty streets that ran through the market. At once her senses were assaulted with the sounds and colours that were ever present along with the smells of the herbs and potions and even a few food items sold at stalls placed along the paths. A wave of memories spilled quickly through Sam's mind as she walked down the path directly in front of her, weaving her way through the bustling crowd. A few beings shouted greetings to her and she waved back; a few even stopped to offer their condolences about Zoey. Before long Sam found herself before the herb booth that stood outside one of the few actual buildings. This was the store she often visited when she needed rare potion ingredients and information. Sam rapped on the wooden bench and a slim blue woman emerged through a bead curtain leading into the building. 

"Poison Ivy, it is good to see you again, I offer my condolences for Zantana." Sam smiled, she had long ago gotten used to the market folk calling herself and the others by their witch's names.

"Thankyou Zulu, but you can rest assured that Zantana is not 'dead as a doornail,' as a matter of fact she's still in the protection business." Zulu raised her delicate eyebrows.

"Truly _Vivasha_?" Sam sighed, one of these days she would find out what that meant.

"Truly Zulu, I have it on good authority that Zantana is in fact on her way to becoming a guardian now." Zulu smiled, she had always like Zantana.

"I am glad, now what can I help you with." Sam rolled her eyes at Zulu.

"You know, for a Naiad you are awfully business orientated. Actually I need some information on demonic rifts." Sam noticed the uncomfortable look that flashed fleetingly across Zulu's face.

"Zulu, what is it?" Zulu bit her lip, a habitual thing she did only when she felt she was going to say something that one of the circle members wasn't going to like.

"There is one person who knows a lot about rifts, especially demonic ones but, I don't think you'll want to see him."

"Him?" Sam thought she already knew were this was going.

"Kalush." And she was right. Sam sighed once more and rubbed her temples.

"Where can I find him?"

"In the south park; just past the dwarves' amulet store." Sam nodded her thanks and turned to leave but was stopped momentarily by Zulu's voice.

"Ivy, it really is good to see you again."

Sam wove her way once more through the crowds looking for the silver haired Daemon she hadn't seen since he had kissed her four months ago.

* * *

Ooooooooh! Lookit plot twist, Hahahaha-ahem. So new characters; don't worry this isn't going to become Danny Phantom OC…….. What the Hades, Hell and Sokar was with that show, seriously, worst soap _ever_. Now, cookies for anyone who can name: not only the titles of all three songs but the artist as well. Second song is probably the easiest. Not only have those songs been stuck in my head for week but they also seemed somewhat appropriate. And remember: if there's anything you don't get ASK! No one got any where by letting themselves be kept in the dark. Any one else ever notice written grammar and spoken grammar have differences?????????????? Wow… 40 KBs. That makes this chapter the second longest, chapter one was 40 KB too. But this one came second so… 


	8. To market to market to buy an enigma

Oh look; I've joined the ranks af the secret order of Jesus Christ, presidant John Sheridan and the fabulous Anla'shok Marcus Cole, yes I am indeed back from the dead! Don't be to thrilled, it's temporary. I'm still focused on M.A. which is very important to me right now so deal with it... story sucks anyway, it's like some form of written verbal vomit... How much does CON:PC rock, shitty ending, 'cept for that kiss that was WHOO!

* * *

Of Witches and Ghosts

Chapter eight: To market, to market to buy an enigma

The Pagoda where she found him was of East Asian design and smelled of hot metal from the wind that came from the Dwarves' metal shop and swept straight through the area

The Pagoda where she found him was of East Asian design and smelled of hot metal from the breeze that passed over the Dwarves' metal shop and swept straight through the area. Sam carefully pushed aside the silk cloth that hid the entrance and she stepped into the secretive place.

"Hello Kalush." Sam sat down on an embroidered cushion, unsure of what to say next.

"Hello Vivasha." Kalush seemed just as unsure of himself.

"I was attacked by a Heat fiend yesterday. In a place called Amity Park. Know anything?"

"Straight to the point today? Alright, I'll see what I can find…" Kalush trailed off when he noticed Sam shaking her head slowly.

"There's a rift there, why and how?"

Kalush sighed lightly, shifting on his cushion.

"I was afraid of this. If this is the Amity Park I've been hearing rumours about I shouldn't be surprised." Kalush paused to pull a Scroll out of a bag he had next to him.

"Here, this is the last map of the veiling. It shows some weakening around a place called Amity park, the weakening is, as far as we can tell, a portal between the human world and another world known as the ghost zone. Demons generally have nothing to do with ghosts but this area has had increasing ghostly and demonic activity."

Sam frowned at the map, there in an area that would have been California in a real map, was a small funny coloured smudge.

"What's that?" Sam pointed it out to Kalush.

"That's the rift you and the girls closed, according to the map it's healing quite well. Exceptionally well. In fact, if I didn't know any better…" Kalush trailed off again. Sam reached across the gap separating them and poked him in the shoulder.

"Poking a Daemon lord? Not a wise career move." Sam shot Kalush a look that said 'I-know-your-a-total-kitten-and –don't-bother-denying-it.' Kalush just rolled his eyes and continued with his theory.

"It is possible that the rift in California is healing so well because all demons have turned their attention elsewhere instead of trying to reopen it.

"The weakened area in Amity Park?"

"The weakened area in Amity Park." Kalush's confirmation sent chills down Sam's spine, she hadn't been able to fight the heat fiend alone, how could she possibly vanquish anything else that came through the new rift.

"Sam," she glanced up startled; Kalush had never used her human name before.

"Hmm, comes off the tongue easier that Poison Ivy or Vivasha. Still, kinda weird. I know that you've wanted to quit the magic biz, but you can't. If you quit, who will defend the people of Amity Park? They're used to ghost attacks, not demon attacks." Kalush took Sam's hands in his.

"The fight which killed Zantana was the final catalyst, things are going to start changing soon, they're snowballing, the changes have been going slowly but soon; soon it will be an avalanche and I want to be there for you but… when I kissed you four months ago, I already knew that I couldn't ever keep you, you belong to some one else. I'm ok with that, but I still wish you could be mine, and you're still one of the few people I would ever consider as a friend. If you need help I will be there for you just call for me and I will come." Kalush smiled at Sam and, blushing slightly, Sam smiled back. Then Kalush gave a short laugh as he sat back.

"How did you do it Ivy, four years ago I was one of the most feared daemons in existence, how the Under-Hel did you turn me into such a tame thing?"

"My witty charm?" Sam shrugged still smiling. "I should get going; it'll be late when I get back, it was, interesting to see you again Kalush." Sam left the pagoda quickly not waiting to hear if the reformed Daemon had anything else to say.

* * *

As Sam stepped out of the portal and back into the park the early evening air swirled around her and she was filled with a sense of dread, without stopping to think she took off following her instincts. Within minutes Sam came across a Hulking demon attacking two little children in an empty corner of the park, her eyes swept the area and Sam noticed, about thirty metres away, Phantom lying in a pool of faintly glowing green liquid. He wasn't moving. Reacting, completely on an instinct that she shouldn't have had, Sam reached out with her hand and with her power and, from ten metres away, 'grabbed' the demon and flung him across the secluded area. Not grasping the gravity of what she had just done Sam ran over to the children faltering slightly when she noticed one of them wore a strange pirate outfit.

"Are you kids ok?" The children nodded all seeming to shaken to speak.

"What are you kids even doing out this late? Go home, both of you, before big, dumb and dangerous gets up. Go, RUN!" The children took off running and Sam turned her attention back to the demon which was getting to its feet.

"Damn," Sam muttered to her self realising it was a weaker middle level demon known as a Kojack. This particular species relied on their brute strength and not much else, they were easy enough to kill, especially with the power sapping potion in her satchel which also sapped strength, but Sam was starting to worry about Phantom who hadn't moved since she'd gotten there. Taking a steadying breath Sam pulled a potion from her satchel as she dropped into a defensive pose, glancing quickly to make sure it was the right potion before she charged at the demon. The demon prepared for the assault by dropping to one knee and crossing its arms in front of its face, a common tactic for this demon that the circle often exploited. When she got close to the demon she shifted her pace slightly and, using the crouching demon like a vault, leapt over the demon smashing the potion vial against it as she went. Landing on her feet, as she had done so many times before, Sam was quick in putting some distance between herself and the demon. The demon let out a low grumble as its power and strength began to ebb. It stood up with shaky legs; Sam took advantage of the moment, closing the gap to deliver a round-house kick to the demons head followed up by a quick blow to its knees. The demon fell down in a heap letting out a pitiful moan.

"Yeah well you shouldn't attack children you jerk." The demon surged to it's feet again and Sam kicked up into it' chest, that same energy as before surging through her propelling the Kojack through the air and onto the stump of a nearby broken tree; without pause Sam reached for the more familiar plant power and sent it pulsing through the stump creating new shoots of growth which entangled and pierced the demons now prone body. Sam backed up to avoid the inevitable explosion that accompanied all middle level demon vanquishes. It came quickly a rolling wave of flame and a howling scream and then there was nothing of the demon bar a mild scorch mark on the tree.

A moan caught Sam's attention, with a gasp she realised that Phantom was mere meters away and he was waking up; relief flooded through her as a high whine broke the other wise silent air.

Very glad Phantom was still 'alive' Sam turned and ran, disappearing through the trees just as a figure dressed entirely in red, riding a hover board of sorts, flew into the park from the other direction.

* * *

It took Sam a while to make it back to her Grams' place, including a quick detour when she got lost, but when she did she went straight up to her room and locked herself in. Sam glanced quickly at her vanity table in her room and growled when she saw her hair; green powers streaks adorned her hair which had lightened to a viable purple, as apposed to its normal tinted black. Replaying the fight over in her mind Sam realised what she had done; the moment she had reached for that demon, energy coursing through her, fling the Kojack without touching it…

"That's Zoey's power…" Sam stared at her hands, hands which had channelled a power not her own trying to puzzle it out. An echo of her conversation with Kalush floated its way through her consciousness.

"_The fight which killed Zantana was the final catalyst, things are going to start changing soon, they're snowballing, the changes have been going slowly but soon; soon it will be an avalanche." _

Was this what he meant? Was this the change he had spoken about, no, _changes_, plural. If this was the start then, where would this end?

In a flurry of motion Sam tore open her draw pulling out the one book she thought she would never read again.

By morning Sam's hair had resumed its normal colour although her eyes were now bloodshot from a night of reading the all too familiar pages of _the book_, nothing new had revealed itself, no magical flicking to a page to explain this power _alteration_. Nothing. With a distinct lack of enthusiasm Sam took a morning shower and readied herself for the school day ahead. What little enthusiasm she had mustered during her shower flagged as she met Danny at her gate.

"What happened to you?" Sam's eyes scanned the slightly pale teen, noticing the underlying stress in his face.

"I got into a fight after school yesterday. You okay? You look a bit tired."

"Couldn't sleep, I've been thinking about some stuff and trying to figure things out and I can't. It's easier to have a conversation with a brick wall."

"Not if it's a brick wall named Dash." Both teens gave slight smiles as the made their way to school and Sam subtly twined her fingers with Danny's as she drew healing energy from the warm morning sun and sent it flowing through them both.

Valerie and Tucker were waiting for them at the school entrance, and just as subtly as she had entwined them, Sam detangled her fingers from Danny's.

"So did you hear, Sam?" Valerie asked quite suddenly.

"Hear what?"

"Phantom got saved by a girl!" Tucker's voice cut through any attempts Valerie had made to speak.

"Even more interesting was that, from what we heard, it wasn't the Red Huntress." He continued.

"The red who?" Sam's head was starting to spin.

"The Red Huntress, she and Phantom were rivals for a while then they had a truce for this one battle and it just sort of stuck." Valerie spoke this time with great enthusiasm.

"Okay, so back pedal a bit for me? What was that this girl, who was not the Red Huntress, saved Phantom from?" Sam looked from Valerie to Tucker but it was Danny who answered.

"No one knows what it was, but it did some serious damage to Phantom and the park where the fight went on."

"And what did the girl look like?" Sam asked interested to know how much they knew, how much Phantom had seen.

"All we know is that she had light purple hair with lime green streaks through it."

"That's it, no height or clothing?" Sam stood in disbelief; she'd gotten away with vanquishing a demon in a public place and no one had any solid lead on her identity.

Moving into the school itself Sam listened to Tucker and Valerie swap ideas on this 'mysterious new comer,' enjoying the feel of being part of a group unravelling a paranormal enigma. It felt familiar. But it was also dangerous if they found out the truth they could expose her; while ghosts were a more common and accepted occurrence, the rest of the magical community preferred not to be seen or known, it made it easier to battle for dominion over the earth. That battle could put the people in danger. Suddenly a cold wave of panic washed over Sam, anxiety rushing through her body rooting her in place. Her breathes came in short gasps and her vision blurred. The sound of the school hallway dulled and mixed turning into an excruciating bombardment of white noise; just when Sam thought she was going to scream it stopped. The noise cleared into identifiable sounds, her vision sharpened and the picture before her made her breathing stop altogether.

* * *

You all hate me just admit it; this plot will drive you all mad some one stop me before it kills again... WALL.E is cute!! and so is my missing hampster which is blue... and it waves. (It's an emoticon)


	9. Spells of fainting

Okay so this chapter has finally been edited I also changed some of it... now if my muse would just come back from cross over land I can finish this story and we can all be happy.

seriously the next chapter is refusing to be written... I'm consider doing filler since the actual stroy refuses to progress... but meh we shall see.

ohh I know give me suggestions for random stuff for a filler chapter, that way i can sneek some more of the plot into the chapter and the story might come back to life and start moving again.

* * *

Of Witches and Ghosts:

Chapter nine: Spells of fainting

The Hall was littered with lights, wisps of colours drifting motionless in a colourless void. Sam could still make out the inside of the school building as a smokey quartz grey engulfing and separating lights. Sam's head shifted slightly to look at a strangely bright light right next to her when another light of comparable brightness caught her attention. This other light was in front of her and up quite a few feet above the smokey quartz grey which was almost obscuring the light from Sam's gaze.

In a sudden jolting motion the world spun around her, it was as if she was on the edge of an off kilter, giant balancing plate as it was spun around on a stick. In a dizzying blur Sam found her self behind the new light. Something about this new light was off putting lacking that… 'Safe' vibe the other light had given off. Watching the scene Sam began to feel nauseous as she often did when she stared at a TV while the program on it was paused. Then she realized why; reality was on pause, Sam was witnessing a split second of reality from the astral realm. She watched as, with gut wrenching warping, time caught itself napping and moved forward once more.

The 'unsafe' light dove down at the building below, through the school's roof and into the glittering lights below. At the same time Sam's consciousness was hurled back into her body so fast she got whiplash which in turn sent her spiralling into the darkness of _un_consciousness. Sam never even felt her body hit the floor. But then, she didn't feel the arms that stopped her from hitting the floor either.

* * *

Touch and feeling was the first sense to come back to her. A warm, soft yet calloused pair of hands held firmly onto her right hand, they were slightly tensed as if worried. A familiar weight lay on her chest, her artefact, the silver pocket watch, was reassuring to her. The 'ground' beneath her was soft, mildly 'squidgy,' as Barbra would put it, probably a mattress.

Scent came next; the air was clean – sterile - with chemical medicines, it made her throat sting mildly. A medical area of some sort.

Hearing worked its way up from the dark pit too. A soft murmuring; some part legible and others not. All of it coming from her left.

"…knew it was..."

"…Before his senses…."

"…Something odd..."

Her eyes slid open slowly. A quick eye glance to her left told her that the people speaking, Valerie, Tucker, Jazz and Mr Lancer, were to busy with each other to notice her awakening. She turned her attention to her right, and smiled weakly at the boy attached to the hands attached to her own.

_Danny._

He smiled back at her. He released the grip his left hand had on her to brush a few stray strands of hair out of her eyes. Sam paled when she notice a few were lighter purple then normal. Danny frowned when she paled but the others in the room got slightly louder, startling them both. The heated 'debate' continued and Danny put his head on the bed near Sam's.

"You remember what happened?" he whispered. It was Sam's turn to frown, Danny wasn't just whispering because she was in the sick bay and didn't want to alert the others to her awakening; Danny's voice carried a certain rasp, almost as if he'd gone and screamed his throat raw.

"Hey?" Danny quite prompt jolted Sam back to his question, did she remember what happened? Sam tried to formulate words even as she thought back, she remembered colours… soul auras maybe, but what was she, _how_ had she… unless: Sam had used another power not her own, this one reminded of the power Barbra had once described, a mix between Barbra's own powers of Second and Far Sight. Barbra had dubbed the power Astral Vision. Sam was at a loss, she knew what had happened but how would she explain it?

'_ask a stupid question…'_ Sam's mind supplied instantly. So Sam answered Danny as she and the others had trained themselves to answer: with a blatant lie.

"No," Sam kept her voice low like Danny's, "I can't remember much passed the school's front doors." The four other occupants of the room continued their 'pro-active' chat.

"Danny, what happened?" Sam asked, Danny shrugged before replying.

"Ghost attack, you must have fainted." Interestingly both dark haired teens had the thought '_as if'_ run through their heads.

"Everyone else ok?" Sam's whispering voice was laced with genuine concern. Danny nodded as best he could with his head still lying on the bed.

"Phantom showed up, beat the ghost. He's all better apparently, bit worried about the… err _minor_ property damage. But yeah every one else got out of the way in time so-"

"Although it is interesting that you actually passed out _before_ the ghost came through the roof." Valerie's sharp voice cut in. Apparently the debate was over.

"I did?" Sam laced her voice confusion. Tucker nodded his head gravely.

"We saw it all, we were by the lockers and you went whiter than a sheet and passed out right in to Danny's arms. It was like a romance movie or some thing."

Sam propped herself up on her elbows.

"Then the ghost came through the ceiling and when straight for you two, Danny picked you up and moved you both out of harms way, it's his hero complex." Tucker continued.

Danny sat up straight grabbing Sam's now free pillow.

"That's about when Phantom showed up; he kick ghostly butt and left. So Danny had to carry you here himself. Total knight in shining armour moment." Tucker opened his mouth as if to add more.

The pillow introduced itself to Tucker's face with a considerable amount of speed and enthusiasm.

* * *

Sam slid into her seat. The group of six had been booted from the sick bay when the nurse arrived in time to see Danny chuck the pillow at Tucker. Thankfully for the younger teens had Mr Lancers class now and Jazz had a free period so they wouldn't be in any trouble; or any more trouble at least.

The nurse had saved Sam from what could have been a rather awkward game of 20 questions. The class was in a bit of a mood from the earlier ghost attack so no work was done. Gossip filled the room as Mr Lancer read a book, he wasn't about to bother himself _pretending_ to teach like some of the other teachers did after a ghost attack, although there was a homework assignment written on the board just in case. Valerie sat on her desk and leant over Tucker's shoulder watching the screen of his PDA as he played a game of something or other. Jazz had decided to spend her free period with them, a trick she could only get away with in Lancer's classes, and was now talking to Danny who had a bag of throat lozenges and a bottle of what Jazz had told Sam was water with lots of honey in it. None of them had mentioned why Danny's voice had suddenly caved. Or why he had a giant bag of lozenges in his locker for just such an occasion.

Sam sat slumped at her desk focusing on one of the lozenges on Danny's desk, it had slipped out of the bag and just sat there. Sam thought back to yesterday when she had used another's power to hurl the demon through the air. Telekinesis: Zoey's primary power… Sam wondered if she could… she might be able too… well why not.

Danny glanced over at Sam, she didn't notice. He frowned at her sudden look of determination wondering what she was thinking; she was focusing on the lozenge on the desk, right by his elbow. Danny turned back to Jazz only half listening now. Sam reached with her mind for her well of power at the heart of her soul as her fingers reached slightly for the lozenge. In he minds eye Sam saw the well of power. Something was different, three new strands, one blue, one silver/black and one gold, twining around and through the vibrant greens and purples of her power.

She paused; blue had always been Zoey's colour, even her Zantana glamour form wore blue, Silver/Black was the colour that Selene favoured, an almost impossible fusion of tow colours that the quintet had only ever seen on the ex-thief, and Gold belonged to Barbra whose glamour form was decked in gold. Sam understood colour affiliation; she herself wore greens and purples to avoid disharmonising. Colours had vibrations, scents and sounds, when the girls wore colours that clashed with their power's colours their powers went wonky.

In two days Sam had used Two powers that did not belong to her, now two strands of power that should have clashed with her own were harmonised, as if the had always been there. Was this what the spell in _the book_ had meant, 'hearts to hearts to never be divided.' And why was a Selene coloured strand twined within her power core?

Sam reached for the blue strand and was suddenly enveloped in a feeling that was so… Zoey. Sam pulled back from the power drawing only the tiniest thread with her. Even the thread hummed with 'Zoey-ness.'

Focusing her attention between the strand of power and the lozenge Sam almost missed Paulina's whining voice rise up over the rest of the class.

"It's just no fair, why didn't Phantom show up to beat that ghost." Phantom hadn't shown up? That's not what Sam had been told. Her head turned towards Paulina so fast Sam almost gave herself a whiplash relapse. Unfortunately for the lozenge Sam had already extended her 'Zoey' power over it, so when Sam turned her head, the lozenge tried to follow and ended up pelting into Paulina's hair where it promptly decided to stick. Sam felt dread rise up from her stomach and looked away, back at Danny who was looking at her. Luckily Sam already looked confused as hell so she didn't need to 'slip her face on' as Haley liked to say.

"AHHHH!" Paulina's shriek drew everyone's attention and Sam took the opportunity to slip out of the class room a left the school as the class worried over Paulina's poor lozenged hair.

* * *

"You should be in class." A shadow fell over Sam's upturned face. She opened her eyes to the speaker.

"Hello Phantom." Sam shut her eyes again waiting for him to leave.

"You should be in class," he repeated. Sam shrug as well as she could sitting on the park bench with her head tilting back.

"Wanna talk about it?" was it just Sam or was his voice slightly raspy today?

"Nope." Monosyllabic; that was how bad Sam's mood had gotten.

"Alright, but I'm gonna haunt you till you tell me." The shadow he cast moved from Sam's face as he sat beside her on the bench. The cold air around Phantom was rigid on Sam's sun warmed skin. The pair sat in companionable silence for a while. Finally Phantom spoke.

"Are you feeling better now?" He asked.

"Hmm? I don't know what you mean," Sam waved her hand dismissively, looking at Phantom side on through her eyelashes.

"Well you fainted this morning; I figured you must not be perfectly alright." Phantom shrugged.

"Stuff has just been happening lately and things are changing and over half of what I thought I knew is migrating through the window. Guess it's just stress, to much at once. Normally I'm a better adapter but, I don't think that this is … ah hell, I don't even really know what the heck I'm talking about right now."

Phantom chuckled quietly at the young witch's sudden confusion.

"Maybe you need a nap, come on I'll fly you home, how's that sound?"

Sam looked at the smiling ghost and nodded, letting him pull her back into his embrace before taking off.

"By the way, _were_ you at school this morning Phantom?"

* * *

Tadum(!)


End file.
